Gramophone



(No Modem r 3 Slheets-Sheet 2. E. BERLINER.

GRAMOPHONE.

N6. 664,586. Pai-,66666 July 26, 1896.

umh

@Witnesses i (Nb maar.)

. E. BERLINER.

GBAAMOPH'ONB. y

Patented Jly 28, .1896.

' 3 'sneensasneet 3.

A I aupa/Ufo@ UNITED' STATES EMILE BERLINER, or WASHINGTON,

PATENT OFFICE.

DISTRICT oF COLUMBIA, AssIGVNoR,

u BY -MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, 10 THE UNITED STATES GRAMOPHQNE COM- PANY, OF WEST .V IRGINIA.

eRAMoPI-ION'E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 564,586, dated July-28, 1896. Application tiled November 7, 1837. Serial No. 254,541. (Remodel.) Patented iu England November 8, 188 ?No.15,239,

10 all whom ztmay concern:

Beit known that I, EMILE BERLINER, a citi- ?.en of the United States, residing -at Yashv mgton, in the District 'of"Columbia, have invented certain newand useful Improvements inGramophones, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference ,to -improvements in methods of and apparatus for recording and reproducing spoken words and other sounds,'and it is primarily intended as and constitutes an extension and improvement of f my gramophone which Ihave .describedinf Letters Patent No. 372,786, granted te "ne on.

November 8, 1887, and for which vI have alsp. received Letters .Patent of Great Britain, No.

then .copying the phonautoafraphicrecord in solid 'resisting material, preferably' by.the

' photo-engraving process, andthen reproduc- Ing the sounds from the'solid copy ofthe rec'- ord. The original record,.as.well as the copy" of the saine, 4is thus obtained as an undulatory line of even depth, as distinguished from a line of varyingd'epth obtained by'th evo1' 1i" nary phonograph and by the graphophone.jV

In-my present invention 4I retain lall the fundamental featuresptmy gramophone, but Introduce certain novel features hothin'the process and in fthe apparatus; which-render the attainment of the-objects of 'a .sound re' corder and reproducer more certain anni more perfect. In the originalfforirof my gralnophone I employed a curved (cylindrical) surface upon which the non-'resisting medium usedfor recording was supported. l'lllishd the disad' vantage that for the purpose of copying theA record' by the photo-engraving proce'sssuch surface had to be irfst straightened 'and the flat copy obtainedfrom the samehad to be bent again to the original cylindrical form of the record-surfaee.'-.f-This 'involved delicate ang/tedious'manipulations, which I avoid in my present invention by inscribing the record .prove the process by arranging that fiat plate the record uponthe under surface of the same, whereby the material removed by the .recording-stylus drops away from the plate and leaves the'undulatory groove of even depth,

method thematerial removed by the stylus accumulated .in and aboutthe adjacent grooves.

using a transparent plate as a support for the non-resisting medium. fore made either of glass or some other like substance,whereby l secure several i mportant advantages. advantages ist-hat it enables me to work with parallelV transmitted rays of light in the subsequent process of photo-engraving, in which the original record is thus used .as a negative,

the sensitive photographic plate, anda-nothe'r important advantage is the reduction of the minimum. l 'lheproeess is'further ilnprovedby the employment o'fa new-recording medium.' In the pure `and si 1npleand this substance iswell son ofthe lfl'oc'culent nature of.this substance the lines ydrawn upon it' are. In'ore or less ragand the photo-engraving obtained from such In lmy improved process-I employ. a layer of a thickness that 'it will neithersubside y no1' How ceedingl'y sharp and reveal no raggededges under a powerful microscope, and the photoa .like copy from'a .record former process.

provements in the process,.ai1d it also covers ,novel features inthe-apparatus, all of which of sounds upon a Hat plate, and l further i1 n.

horizontally, or nearly so, vand by inscribing` clean, and well defined, whereas by the old- This plate is there-' friction of the stylus upon the-supports toa original process I used a'layer-of lampblack v8o adapted for the purpose on' account of the, 'slight coherence of the particles; but by rea?.-

g'ed, as can' be observed' under a microscope,

semiiluid in'k or paint, of 'such o'n sistency and '9' spontaneously. 4Suchmkis lnacticallystructureless, .and the lines drawny upon it are cx engraving from such record is far superior to- My inventionA also comprises otherminor im# I havefurther improved the process by The most important of these which may be directly applied in contact with 'i record displaysallthe-defects ofthe original.'

'9st produced under the will more fully appear from the following detailed description, in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings,in which I have illustrated convenient forms ofapparatus which I have used, without, however, limiting myself to the exact details of the same.

Figure 1 is'a perspective view of my improved gramophone. -Fig. 2 is a plan View of the diaphragm, with its support and accessories. Fig. 3 is a vertical section showing the recording-disk and its connection with the y vof the recording-disk. Fig. 8 is a sectional,

driving-whel- Fi'g. 4 is a sectionalview of the diaphragm, its support, and accessories. Fig. 5 1s a cross-section on line .zx a: ofFig. 2.

4 Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a part of the driving-gear. Fig. 7 isa section showing the connection of the driven shaft with the support view of a centering device. Fig. 9 is 'a -plan View, upona reduced scale, of a disk with a lrecord of sounds recorded upon the same in accordance with Amy invention.; Fig 10 is a vsectional elevation of a modified form of my reproducing apparatus, and Fig. 11 s a sectional view of adampened reproducing-disk. Referring now to the drawings, in which .the

' details are marked by numerals, there is a platform 1, suitablysupportcd, and upon this platform are mounted the operative parts of. th apparatus. A metallic plate 2, provided wi h a longitudinal rib' 3, is secured upon the platform, and standards 4 4', mounted upon plate 2, are provided with ahnt-bearing 5 Land a smooth bearing'', (see Fig.'6,')'respec.

tively, for shaft 6, lwhich extends through these bearings, as shown. One-half, more or '-less, of this shaft is screw-threaded, assho'wn,

- and enters the nut-bearing 5, and at a point near the middle fsad shaft passes loosely through a'movable support 7, the position ofA which upon the shaft is determined by two collars 88, as indicated in Fig. 7. The support 7 serves asa bearing for a bevel-gear 9, which is ,centrally perforated and widens out into'a circular flange 10.v

Upon its under side the bevel-gear 9 is receased, and said recess fits loosely'over the up-L per end of support 7. A screw 11, passing loosely through' the central perforation of bevel-gear 9, screwsintothe head of support- 7, s o that the bevel-gear can rotate about'its axis, which coincides with the'axis of screw' 11. Two screw-pins 12 12, which lmay be either fixed or removable, project at diamet-h 'rlcally opposite points from flange 10, and'are designed to pass through two similarly-located holes in a glass plate 13, as will be more fully' described hereinafter.

v A bevel-gear 14, fixed' upon shaft, engages# bevel-gear 9, but provisionV is' made f r re-v leasing gear 14 from the shaft, if desire for a purpose which vwill be explained farther wise rotate, and will 'at the same time a'd on. As stated above, the screw-threaded por- 4tion of shaft ,6 passes through nut-bearing 5,'

and it will now be clear that if shaft 6 is rotated bevel-gear 9, with its flange 10,-will likeraised up toward the platform.

vVance in a straight line, since shaft 6, screwing into or out of its nut-bearing 5, will carry bevel-gear 14 and support 7 with it. From thebottom of support 7 two lugs 15 15, one

1 and 6, anda sleeve 17 loosely fitting this portion of the shaft has a pin 18,'the end'of which engages groove 16, as shown in Fig.

6, so that the-shaft is free to'slide longitudinally through sleeve 17 and will rotate with the same if the latter isrotated. l

Sleeve 17 is fitted int'oV bearing 5 of standard 4', so as to rotate within. the same, and

upon that part of thels'leeve'which projects gear 19. `The latter is-composed of a pinion 20 and -va-bevel-gear 21, and a rather large vbevel-whee1'22, mounted upon a' shaft 23 below platform 1, mesheswith pinion 2O.`

A small bevel-gear 24 meshes with geare wheel 21, and to theshaftof gear 24 are se- .cured fans 25, which are thus driven at a high lspeed and serve as a regulator, as will -be Abeyond-the bearing is'keyed the compound readilyV understccd by those skilled in' the art.

27 from shaft 23,` and if ,said shaft is turned by a crank 28, or otherwise, in one direction the cords or chairs are wound upon the same,I s

as indicated ii, Fig. 1, andthe weight 26 is If, on the other hand, the weight is allowed to descend, it will rotate shaft23, this in turn will rotate gear-wheel 22, which, meshing with pinion A weight 26 is suspended by lcords or chains I 20, will rotate the latter and the connected shaft 6, and in the manner hereinbefore described support 7 will receive a rectilinear motion,'whi1eilange 10, upon' bevel-gear '9, will bot-h rotate and mm'e in a straightline.

For every complete revolutionof bevel-gear 14 support 7 a11d.beve1- gear'.9, with its connected flange 10, will be moved in the line of a diameter a distance equal to the pitch of the screw-threadsupon shaft 6, and it will now beunderstood that if a plate 13 is fixed V"tof flange '10 and a fixed pencil or stylus be lightly pressed upon the plane surface of saidfr'zo' platea gai-ral ij-f ciewill be drawn upon 'the The recording-stylus 29 is mountedupon a@ diaphragm 30, and the diaphragm itself,

Awhich may :be of any suitable'sonorous-mafterial, .is' mounted in a case 31, anda rigidy tube, 32, projectin from one side of thecase,

-con'imunicateswit 1 'a flexible tube `33 and a mouth crear piece 34. The tube is clamped and may be, adjusted in the direction-of its length in a ring 35, formed at the end ofa rod 36, which-is adjustable in a support 37, and

the latter isagain adjustable vertically in a 'y standard 38 mounted upon platform A elastic material;

. the stylus is reduced toa point and is curved upwardly, and by turningthe diaphragmcase about the axis'of tube 32, or by turning rod 36`inlits bearing 37, or-by-adjusting the latter upon bracket l38 they point of thestylus may be brought into light, contact wi i the lower face of disk 1'3 at a point in the diameter of said disk which is parallel with shaft 6.

Near the middle of its length a hole is produced through the stylus, and a pin 42,'formed at one end ofa metalblock 43,- passes through said hole and into the central bore in a similar block 44. Between cach block and the adjacent face of .the stylus a soft -rubber washer is inserted, and the two blocks-are forced together and are made to clamp the stylus between the rubber'waseerg hy1rc:=.:;sl ofthe pointed screws 46, working in thesupber tubing/.t8 is inserted between.v the-outer.

arm of this lever and the casing 31, and another piece of soft-rubber tubing 49 is slipped l over'the stylus between the elastic support 48 and the outer end. Thus it will be seenv vibrates under 'the impact of sound-waves the free en'd of the l'stylus will move to the right and to the .left of its position of4 rest and parallel to the face of disk 13.l

, .The disk 13 is preferably made of glass. It is of suitable diameter and thickness, and

' .has two holes 12 12", corresponding tothe pins 12-12 projecting from flange l0, and is placed in position upon said flange with the pins entering the holes. "The nuts 50.50 are then screwed down, whereby the glass disk lis securely clamped.

v The method of recording a ff. reproducing.

recorded sounds by means of this apparatus will now be easily understood.

As has' been stated above, thenon-.resisting material upon which the' sound-record or phonautogram is produced is a se'mi il uid, and

Y I can use for this purpose any ink, as, for instance, printers, ink, of 'the required consistency. An even layer of this ink'm'ay be spread over theunder surface 'of'thc glass disk in any suitable manner, as, for. instance,

by means of a brush orrolleizwhilc the disk1 `would be obtained.

ished' and dried, and is then covered with a thin film of oil by means of a camels-hair brush. This is done while the disk 'is rotated with moderate speed. Any oil or fat may be used, but I have found linsccd-oil specially adapted for the'purposc. il smoky llame is then held under the glass plate while thc laiier is slowly rotated, whereby the lampblack ascending'frmn the ilame is intercepted by the plate'and becomes deposited' upon the same in a very fine-layer, which, however, is instantly absorbed by and mixes intimately with the thin layer of oil, thus forming-ablack amorphous ink, coveringthe under surface of the glass disk i-n an even exceedtheir transition from the gaseous into-the solid-'state takes place.' 'lf it were attempted to apply lampblack' already formed by 'dust 'ing' upon the' oiled disk, no intimate mixture resulting in an even layer of amorphous ink directly formed upon the disk has just the consistency and the thickness required. It will The coating of ink thus notdow spontaneously, and while-it adheres v well to the glass plate, it requires only a ininimum force to remove it from the same, and the point of the stylus in its passage through the substance of the ink experiences no'perceptible. resistance.

The disk is now ready.

IOO

to receiv'egthe phonautogram, and it ismoved to the position shown in Fig. 1, with the point of the stylus nearthe outer edge. The point ofthe stylus is then adjusted into light contact withthe disk, so that the coat of ink is barely penetratedby the same', and the weight A 26 is allowed to descend and to rotate. shaft 6 in ,.the' manner'hereinbefore described. "1f

' now the stylus remainedimmovable, it would describe upon the under surface of the disk 'a smootli spiral the .convolutions of. which' continuously decrease toward the'center of f the disk. The 'pitch of the spiral is ldetermined bythepitch of the screw'upon shaft' and by the relative'angular veloci-ties cf said A shaft and ot'A bevel-gear 9, and may' in practice .be made as small'- as one-Iiftieth 0f 'an inch. IIf, n'ow during t-he progress of 'the disk soundwaves are directed yagainst thel diaphragm through the mouth-piece 34 and tubes 33 and 32, the stylus will vibrateto the rightand left of 'the' spiralline, vinscribing upon' the disk an rundulatory line of .even depth, which line will truly and accurately represent the sounds utteredagainst the diaphragm. The

' stylus removes avery sharp line ofA ink from the disk, leaving the latterquite transparent an .this line, while it isqni opaquefand will I' not transmit light atftheplaees not touched by the stylus. The `ink removed by the stylus An approximate idea of the phonautogram thus produced can be obtained by inspection of Fig. 9, which represents an undulato'ry spiral line upon a disk, with the pitch of the spiral and the undulations of the record greatly exaggerated. In the drawings, the uudulatory line appears black upon a white ground, While in factthe line is transparent upon a black ground.

The phonautogram may` extend to within a short distance from the edge of flange 10, and in practice the cords or chains 27 27 are made just long enough to drive the disk up to that limit, or the apparatus is mounted at the proper height above the ground so that the weight will be arrested before the limit of progress of the disk is reached. Bevel-gear 14 is then disengaged from bevel-gear i) by unclamping the same from shaft G and sliding it upon the same -a short distance to the left hand, (in the View shown in F-ig. 1,) and the disk is then`r given a single rotation by hand, whereby the stylus describes a true circle 51 upon the disk. 'lhis circle, which I call the centeringcircle,-is .afterward The glass disk, with the sound-record and centeringcircle upon the same, is now removed, and

' light and with parallel rays, the negative be.-

the record may be fixed" byapplyingva 'thin coat of varnish. It may then be handled with' impunity. From this record I 'produce a copy in copper or any other metal by the process. of photb-engraviug, and in this process I use -the original record ts-fa negative', which enables meto .work vby trausmltted ing applied directly in contact with the sensit-lve photographic plate. The copy 'thus pro-' duced 'will have the exact size of the original,

as is well understood by those skilled inthe art. In the photo-engraved copy the 'soundrecord appears -as an undulatory line of even depth upon a solid metal disk, and the centering-circle 51 is reproduced in the same manner. v

.. For. reproducing `the original sounds, the

.- center of the centering-circle is determinedk .by well-known. simple geometrical constru c tions, and a small hole is drilled through th at center, which hole corresponds to the mathematical axis about which the glass diskv had been rotated, and also marks the axis about which the metal disk must be rotated by: the apparatus shown in order that the pointed stylus 'applied to the st*|,rting-po i1,itlA of 'the' reeord'may follow thesame from beginning to end. Two holes corresponding to the holes `12'..12'` inthe glass-disk are also madeinthe metal disk, but these Iholes are preferably,

.made large enough t0 permit .the disk to Abe 'adjusted in either direction when placed upon Atlan'ge 10.- v- Before this is done a well-fitting cylindrical block 52 is placed into thatpart 6.5 isv occupied by -the head of screw 11, -as

, of the cylindrical hole through the common eenterjof ang'e 10 and bevel-gear 9iwhich showri'in 8. This block, which I 'tall tion.

.able manner.

the centering-block, has a fine axial hole 53,' which corresponds exactly to the. mathe-- natical axisof rotation of bevel-gear 9. If now the photo-engraved copy of the record is placed upon iiange 10,.with pins l2 12 passing through corresponding holes in the metal plate, a line, pin, say a sewing-needle, is passed through the centering-holes in the` ,disk and in bloc-k 52, andthe clamp-nuts 50 are tightly screwed down. By this simple process the metallic copy of the original record is safely and quickly centered in posi- The stylus is then adjusted with its point in engagement 'with the outer end of the recordv-grooyeg,v and .the weight 26 is allowedio descend-.1 i It will now be clear that the stylus will be forced positively to' follow the undulations of the record, and Vthat the diaphragm vibrating under the stylus will emit the same sounds which produced the original record, 'which sounds' canbe dis-v tinctly heard at the ear-piece -Boththe process and the apparatus 'thus far described may be modified .in various ways without departing from the man features of my invention.` So, for instance, I .can dispense with the centering device and can rotate the record upon a stationary axis, if the diaphragm with its attachedstylus is' mounted in a manner to make it follow thespiral record. An arrangement. of this character is shown in Fig. 10. The reproducingdisk 54 is in this case mounted as hereinbefore described, but wit-hout regard'to the center- .ing device. The support 7 may be fined in p sition so that the bevel-gear 9, mounted upon the same in the manner described with reference to Fig. 3, motion'. @Feral-ear 9,' and with it therepr'oducilig-disk 54, are rotated by a bevel-gear 14e' upon a shaft to which power is applied by a weight, as sholwn, or in any other suit- '.lhediaphragm-casing 31 is secured to a small truck 55 upon. rails 56 arranged vertically vaboveV and parallel with a diameter of the reproducing-disk, and at such height above the same that the stylus -29 vwill be in 'engagement with the undulatory.

` The listener applies his ear to the ear-piece,

and whenv theshaft' isrotated the stylus' i the face of disk 54.,- A tolerably goodrephoing one end oa reed between theteeth and the other pointed end ofthesame in engagement `with the record-grooves while. the disk.

is rotated. v t l "The frictionalccntact of' theireproducmgstyluuwitn the'serface of .the ordinary lneand. with a .v iew" of avoidingthev some1 `1mm-nt thesproducinguisk si (stevig. n). -UPOII rigidfplate will turn withoutprogressivej refs*- nsf grooves of evendepthwhich represent the e record of sounds.

duction .may also be .obtained by simply holdl 1,

. r3.6. itallic record' gives riseto disturbing sunds,

4'15 .having the record in raised lines.

plating the metallic record, which isordina rily made of copper, since I have found thatth'sound due to the frictional contact of the stylus .witha polishedfsurface of nickel is `very faint. ,Y

In place of the-metallic 'cgi/1g" d. cfthenriginal record I can use a copy made or sealing-wax, which is vmade from a metallic or other copy The metalhc copy is for this purpose first oiled and .the molten sealing-wax is then 'poured over it and is then backed by plaster-of -paris or other rigid. material. The ca'st is then easily 2O be used for the reproduction of the recorded Sounds, which will be quite clear amd remarkably free of the disturbing sounds due to the friction of the stylus, especially when bago.

The metallic copy of the original record is in effect an engraved copperplate, and it may the sealing-wax copy or a copy; of any other similar material may be made. 1 Indesire to emphasize the fact that my 're- 35' vcordng andreproducin g stylgvs is,I fiat ciasticstrip, which will yield infbne direction, but not in the other. For vthis reason the recording and reproducing surface need not be absolutely plane, and the stylus will still tain contactwith the same, while it will be positively moved to f llow the undulations of .the-record in repr ucing. The point of .thestylus may be made of iridiium 'Having now; fuuy descnned myinvention; 45

. Patent,1s- Y 1. The methodof producinga phonautogram,'which'cons1sts in removing'an undulatory line of even ldepth offa deposit of ink 59' with` sound-vibrations; vsubstantially as dej 42.' The method of producing a phonauto gram, which consists in. removing an undu- ;5 latory line of evendepthofa deposit of amori phous mk from a travelin -in accordance with soun stantiallyas described.

support, byand -vi brations; 'sublo' phonautogramywhich' consists in removin 3. The method of producing rtranspaeiit an -u ndulatory line pf even depth of a deposii h of 'lnk from -a 4traveling plate 'of glass, by and v Sut stantially as described."

5 4. .The method of producing a 'transparent.

phonautogram, which cnnsistsm removing tially as described.

.'-uid ink upon a phonautographic support,

removed from the metallic matrix and mav tially as described.. the surface is first gently rubbed with plumwhat I claim,and desire to secure by Letters'.

from artraveling plate,'by and in' aecordancel V surface an undulatory linaffeven depth from a dei posit of amorphous and opaque material from a traveling support of glass, by and in aecordance with sound vibrations; substan- 7o 5. The method of producing a transparent phonautogram, which consists in removing an undulatory line of even depth extending along a volute, of a deposit of amorphous and ,-5 opaque material from a rotating disk of glass,

' by and in accordance with soundvibrations;

substantially as described.

6. The method of producing a layer ofsemiwhich consists in first applying a coat of oil,

r other fat, 'upon the support, and then sub# limating upon the oiled surface a thin layer of lampblack; substantially'as described.

'7. The method of producing a phonauto- 85 gram, which consists in removing an undulatory line of non-resisting material from the under surface of a traveling plate, by and in accordance with sound-vibrationsg substan- In a gramphone, the .combination of va sound-receiving sonorous body; with a pivoted stylus controlled by and controlling the same, and a vsupport adapted to carrya phonautogramic' recording-surface, or va copy of 95 such record in solid resisting material, trav.

py vcling in the plane of vibration of the point of the stylus; substantially as describe d. 9.' In a gramophone, the'- combination 0E .a sonorous diaphragm and a;.pvoted stylus; with an elastic connection between the diaphragm and sty1u`s,and an elastic reaction--A ary dampening-supportfor the free arm of' the stylus; substantially as described. In agramophone, the combination cfa tween the diaphragm-'and the styluszl'subi stantially as described. 1l. Inagramophone, the combination of a vvibratory diaphragm and al stylus controlled .x re I thereby and controlling the same; with arubf; ber tube clamped to the diaphragm. and cons necting the4 stylus with the latter, and a pivotcd support for the stylus between its Yfree end and its connection withA the diaphragm; :i5

substantiallyasl described.

12. In a gramophone, the combination of a vibratory diaphragmand a stylus elastically connected therewith; ,with a pivoted support -for the stylus located between'the fitee end-of no the same and 'its' connection with the 'diaphragm; `dampeningfwashers between, the stylus and its pivotal support, and a reac- 'tionary dampeningfsupport' fory the free arm f of the stylus; substantially asl'described. 125 13. In agramophone, the combination. of a horizontal traveling support for the record- Y with a-vibratory diaphragm, and La' recording-stylus bearing upon the under sur.-V

.face of ,the support; substantially as de- '130- scribed. 14. In a gramoph'onathe combination of a `Ico A pivoted stylus, with an elastic connectlon bete4,sse

, 5 sound-receiving diaphragm, mounted in a suitable casing; with a tubular sound-conveying stem-projecting from the casing, and .an adjustable support for the tubular stein; the connection between the casing and tubu- E :xo lar stem being such as to permit of the rotation of the lcasing' relative to the stem for adju'stment, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

16. A device for centering a spirall'y-ex- Iv 5 tending record, of sounds upon a reproducing apparatus, consisting ofa rotatable vrecordsupport having aeentral recess, a block tting the said recess and having a perforation coincident with' the mathematical center of rotation of the record-support,- and means for holding the record upon the support, substantially as described.

.In testimony whereof I have signed my dname to this specification inthe presence of r two subscribing witnesses.

EMILE BERLINER.

Witnesses:

JACOB G. COHEN,

CEAS. W. HANDY. 

